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THE VIDEO SHELF · tax code complexity

Milton Friedman - Why Tax Reform Is Impossible

Milton Friedman explains why the US tax code is enormously complex and why meaningful reform is unlikely. He argues that politicians profit from the complexity, since tax breaks are products they sell and the code works as a tool of reward and punishment. The clip is about 14 minutes from his lecture series.

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Why HN readers recommended it

HN commenters cite it whenever a thread touches on tax complexity, loopholes, or why companies like Intuit benefit from a convoluted tax system.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel
LibertyPen
Topic
tax code complexity
Format
lecture
Level
general
HN recommenders in dataset
3
HN mentions in dataset
12
Recommendation years in dataset
2013–2022

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

  • Somewhat relevant talk by Milton Friedman that I found enlightening when thinking about these tax matters (economics of tax shelters, tax cuts being the "product" politicians "sell", etc.): [VIDEO] (I strongly recommend watching all of it, but around 5:50 in he talks about why the …

    tolmasky on Hacker News · 2013-05
    In Apple Pays No Tax on Much of Its Overseas Income, Senate Panel Finds

  • There is a good Milton Friedman video wherein he explains why tax reform won't happen in the United States. The key is that the ideal goals of a tax system (e.g. generate lots of revenue with little inefficiency and little impact on taxpayers' personal financial …

    baddox on Hacker News · 2014-01
    In Technology and wealth inequality

  • Perhaps if taxes were less punitive and confiscatory people would be less likely to be creative in their avoidance. Lowering and simplifying taxes would increase revenues (per the Laffer Curve,) however that would result in politicians not being as powerful. Milton Friedman explains this brilliantly: …

    briandear on Hacker News · 2017-04
    In Uber banned in all of Italy

Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.